Treatment of winery slops



July 23, 1946. Q PATTEE 2,404,398

TREATMENT OF WINERY SLOPS Filed March 29, 1943 9 2 ffoaml/ 2 I 36 UJJJJ dryer .3 7

U 00 J Crude Cream of .3 Tarfar l i INVENTOR. ELLIS C. PATTE'E ZE W i Arr Patented my 23, 1946 Ellis 0. Pattce, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignmto National Distillers Products Corporation, corporation of Virginia Application March 29, 1943, Serial No. 480,919

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to the production of usable by-products-from winery still slops-and.

will be fully understood from the following description read in conjunction with the drawing which is a diagrammatic side elevation of apparatus in which the invention may be carried out.

Referring to the drawing, the slops in tank I may be bottoms from the distillation of the liquor obtained by washing and/or pressing pomace or 10 bottoms from the distillation of lees. The slop is withdrawn from tank I into mixer 2 in which it is heated, while undergoing mixing, by steam supplied to coil 3. The mixing and heating are necessary to compensate for any cooling and consequent precipitation of potassium acid tartrate that may occur between the time the still slop is withdrawn from the still and the time it is supplied to the potassium acid tartrate recovery system. From the mixer the heated slops is fed continuously to the bowl of the imperforate overflow centrifuge 5. The suspended organic matter present in the slops is separated as a cake in bowl 4 from which it is intermittently dumped and by means of conveyor 5' combined with pressed pomace moving continuously forward on conveyor diagrammatically indicated by 6. The overflow from bowl 4 is still slops clarified and freed of suspended organic material; this is picked up in collector ring I and diverted through pipe 8 into tank 9.

In some instances the still slops contains practically no suspended solids and the clarification step may be omitted.

From tank 9 the clarified still slops is supplied continuously through pipe ll into the first unit l2 of a multiple efiect evaporator in which it is present in excess of the amount which is soluble in the slops at a lower temperature, and preferably to a point at which the major part of the potassium acid tartrate will be insoluble at the 5 lower temperature. With a salt type evaporator this concentration may be carried forward to form a viscous solution containing crystalsof potassium acid tartrate. v

The extent of concentration required will, of course, depend'upon the amount of potassium acid tartrate initially present and this in turn will depend upon the source from which the still slops was derived, the amount of wash water used, the amount of lees in the material distilled 15 and various other factors.

The concentrated clarified still slops is then passed through pipe 26 into crystallizing tank 24 in which it is cooled to a temperature at which the bulk of the potassium acid tartrate passes out of solution, under conditions adapted to hold 5 of potassium acid tartrate passes continuously through-pipe 25 into bowl 26 of centrifuge 21.

The bowl is of the imperforate overflow type or the perforated type; the crystals accumulate as a cake therein and are intermittently dumped or so continuously abstracted and passed into dryer 2'! v in which they are heated by steam passing through coil 29 to form a crude substantially dry potassium acid tartrate. The overflow from bowl 26 consisting of the still slops that has been clari- 35 fied, concentrated and substantially freed of po- The steam produced by evaporation in unit l6 passes off through pipe l9 into b rometric condenser 2I in which it is condense by water introduced through pipe 22, to maintain the necessary stages of vacuum at which evaporation and concentration of the slops will take place in units l2 andv IS.

The concentration in these units is carried out tassium acid tartrate is passed continuously through pipe 3| into the pressed pomace moving forward on conveyor 6. It is thoroughly commingled with the pomace in mixer 32 and moves 4o thence on conveyor 33 into steam dryer 34 within which it is heated to substantial dryness by means of steam.

The dried material consisting of pomace and the soluble materials (other than potassium acid 4 tartrate) originally present in the winery still slops moves through air conveyor 35 into hopper 36 from which it fiows continuously to the grinder 31 in which any lumps are disintegrated and thence into storage tank 36 from which it may be so sacked or transferred to cars for bulk shipment.

The combined dry material is used as a cattle I to a point at which the potassium acid tartrate is u and poultry food and is both more desirable and winery residues, including winery still slops containing potassium acid tartrate which comprises evaporating said still slops, separating crystals of potassium acid tartrate therefrom, combining the residual evaporated still slops with pomace and drying the combined materials.

1 2. Process of obtaining usable by-products from winery residues, including winery still slops containing potassium'acid tartrate which comprises evaporating said still slops, cooling said still slops, separating crystals of potassium acid tartrate therefrom, combining the residual evaporated still slops with pomace and drying the combined materials.

1 3. Process of obtaining usable by-products irom winery residues, including winery still slops containing suspended organic matter and potassium acid tartrate which comprises separating said winery still slops while hot into a mud cake and a clarified eilluent, evaporating said eflluent, cooling said' evaporated eilluent, separating crystals of potassium acid tartrate from said evaporated cooled eilluent, combining the residual eifluent with pomace and drying the combined materials.

1 4. Process of obtaining usable by-products from wineryresidues, including winery still slops containing suspended organic matter and potassium acid tartrate which comprises separating said winery still slops while hot into a mud cake and a clarified eilluent, combining said mud cake with pomace, evaporating said eilluent, cooling the said evaporated eflluent, separating crystals of potassium acid tartrate irom the said evaporated cooled eilluent, combining the residual efliuent with the pomace and drying the combined materials 5. of obtaining usable by-products from winery residues, including winery still slops containing suspended organic matter and potassium acid tartrate which comprises introducing said winery' still slops while hot into a rotating mass of the same defining a tubular innerwall, thereby separating a mud cake and a clarified efliuent, evaporating said emuent, cooling said evaporated eilluent, separating crystals of potassium acid tartrate from said cooled evaporated efliuent.

combining the residual efliuent with pomace and drying the combined matter.

6. Process of obtaining usable hy-products from winery residues, including winery still slops containing suspended organic matter and potassium ing said eflluent, cooling the said evaporated eilluent, separating crystals of potassium acid tartrate from the said evaporated cooled emuent. combining the residual eilluent with the said pomace and drying the combined materials.

, ELLIS C. PA'I'I'EE. 

